CHINA:The Olympic torch arrives on Beijing's Tiananmen Square today for the start of a relay that will cross five continents and is meant as a symbol of domestic unity and international harmony ahead of the Summer Games in the Chinese capital in August.
Instead, as it circles the planet passed from runner to runner, the torch is likely to be a focal point for protest against China's policies in Tibet and its tough clampdown on recent unrest in the Himalayan enclave.
"The Olympic Flame is the premier symbol for the Olympic ideal and spirit. Its pursuit of excellence, friendship, and respect stands for human beings' common values," Wang Wei, secretary general of the Beijing organising committee, told the Xinhua news agency. Mr Wang's message of peace will ring hollow with Tibetan rights groups who are expected to dog the torch's progress with protests.
Unrest in Tibet began with peaceful demonstrations earlier this month led by maroon-robed monks in Lhasa but soon turned into violent attacks on ethnic Han Chinese in the Tibetan capital, as residents vented their fury against Beijing rule. The protests also spread to other Tibetan areas in provinces such as Gansu and Sichuan.
The Chinese government believes 18 civilians died in the riots, which they blame squarely on Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled China in 1959 after a failed uprising against communist rule, and his "clique". The Dalai Lama denies he is behind the unrest, in which his government-in-exile representatives say 140 people were killed.
There will be a short handover ceremony on Tiananmen Square, the vast central plaza at the heart of the capital that is still linked in many minds in the West with the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists in June 1989.
Tensions are simmering still in Lhasa. Citing sources in Dharamsala in India, the Free Tibet Campaign said there was a large protest in Lhasa at 2pm local time on Saturday.
A text message sent to Lhasa residents said: "Please residents, do not believe the rumours. Be relieved and stay working. Be clear about the rights and wrongs. Obey the law. Criminal actions such as creating and spreading rumours, persuading others to do wrong, sabotaging social stability will be severely cracked down upon."
Premier Wen Jiabao restated Beijing's line that the Lhasa riots were "violent and criminal" and hinted again that Western media reports were biased. "We hope governments everywhere and the media can approach and assess this matter objectively and justly. The Chinese government has the ability to solve this matter," Mr Wen said from Laos, where he is attending a meeting.
Accusations of bias are increasing in Chinese propaganda channels, without specifying what the foreign media position is exactly, and it appears to be a concerted effort to deflect coverage from fundamental debate about China's role in Tibet.